


Puppy Love

by Chocchi



Series: Feeling Pretty Good About the Trouble That I'm In [1]
Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 08:06:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18890575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocchi/pseuds/Chocchi
Summary: Of course Flynn works at his vet now. Of fucking course. He was just starting to feel like his life might be on the right track. It was time for something to go wrong.Yuri has somewhere between two and four children, depending on your definition of "child," a dog, two jobs, and a too-small apartment. Reconnecting with his estranged best friend wasn't supposed to be on this week's to-do list.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> modern au?? modern au. this one goes out to [the follower](https://suguelya.tumblr.com/) who suggested that modern au flynn should be repede's long-time vet. i am tragically infatuated with the childhood friends to lovers trope so this is not QUITE as prompted  
> theoretically there's more to come in this au? and theoretically posting this will publicly shame me into continuing to work on it. THEORETICALLY. as always, i deeply appreciate any comments, feedback, or constructive criticism you have to offer!

It starts like any other trip to the vet. Repede whines pathetically as they pull into the parking lot, but obediently—if sulkily—trots along at Yuri’s heels. Yuri shepherds him into the lobby and checks them in at the desk, then slumps into a chair in an examination room to wait for a vet tech. Repede wedges himself under the chair between Yuri’s calves.

What a big baby.

Yuri has his phone out, absentmindedly tapping at a game. It’s mostly to keep his hands busy while he mentally outlines his week. He has to get groceries at some point, but fucked if he knows when he’ll have time for it. He’s pulling double shifts through Thursday. In between the café and bartending, he has to pick Karol up from lacrosse practice and make dinner. Friday he doesn’t have bartending, but Rita’s got her latest robotics tournament on Friday, so that’s no good. And anyway, they won’t make it to Friday with their current stocks. They’ve barely got the food to make it through Wednesday.

Maybe Judy—? No, Judy has her own bartending and waitressing jobs to worry about. There’s always Estelle, but frankly Estelle sucks at grocery shopping. They’ll end up with basic staples and nothing else. Rita and Karol are already threatening mutiny if Yuri packs them any more egg sandwiches in their lunches. He can’t trust Estelle to shop for real ingredients.

Shit. Maybe he’ll squeeze it in after Repede’s check-up. He was hoping to catch a nap before his bartending shift, but it looks like he’ll just have to suck it up.

“Hi, is this R—oh my God, Yuri?”

Yuri almost drops his fucking phone onto Repede, his head shooting up at the familiar voice. “Flynn?”

They stare at each other like deer in the headlights for a long, terrible moment, before Flynn coughs awkwardly and steps fully into the room. “Hi, so we’ve got Repede here for a check-up today, right?”

“Theoretically,” Yuri says. “If we can get him out from under the ch—“

Repede has fully emerged from under the chair and stands in the middle of the room, watching Flynn suspiciously.

“Aww, hey there,” Flynn says. His eyes crinkle up with an irrepressible smile as he crouches to offer Repede his hand. Yuri’s heart hiccups in his chest. He’s still stupidly beautiful when he makes that dumb face. “You know, I wondered when I saw the name ‘Repede’ on the schedule, but I convinced myself it wasn’t...”

“Well, surprise,” Yuri says, letting the words come out sharper than he means to. Flynn raises an eyebrow while Repede licks his knuckles warily. The little bastard usually hates the vet, what is he doing? Does he remember Flynn? It’s been like three years. He’s a dog. He’s not even supposed to be able to remember he chewed up Estelle’s shoes last night. Or is that just about associating actions with human displeasure? “It was us.”

“I can see that.” Flynn tickles Repede under the chin. “Alright, buddy, let’s get you on the scale, huh?”

Repede whuffles sadly but allows Flynn to weigh him. Afterwards, as Flynn does a respectable job of concealing the medical feel-up as affectionate patting, he cocks his head in Yuri’s direction.

“It’s been a while.”

“Yeah.” Yuri shrugs, jamming his hands into his pockets. “Congrats on, you know. Vet school. Presumably.”

Flynn beams. “Thank you. It was incredibly generous of Dr. Oltorain to offer me a position here while I’m still pursuing my studies.”

“Something something valuable career experience.”

“You never change, do you?” Flynn snorts. He gives Repede’s ribs a final squeeze, then makes a few notes on a clipboard.

“Nope. Same old me.”

“What about you? What are you up to these days?”

“Eh, this and that. Helping out Hanks sometimes. Odd jobs. Accidentally acquiring roommates. The usual.”

“Accidentally—?” Flynn frowns at him, then sighs and shakes his head. “You’ve been picking up strays again, haven’t you?”

“Not the kind you’re thinking of,” Yuri says, wistfully imagining how much goddamn simpler his life would be if he had four mangy dogs or cats instead of four unruly teenagers in his house.

“Real roommates, then? Tell me they’re at least paying rent.”

“I got like a fifty-fifty success rate on that one.”

“Yuri!”

“What? Anything else would be child labor.”

“Child—“ Flynn pinches the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Let’s keep going with the check-up. What are you feeding him? How often?”

They go through the rest of the checklist, Flynn scribbling away at his clipboard. Finally, he clicks the pen and tucks the clipboard under his arm.

“Okay, you two sit tight for a few minutes and Dr. Oltorain will be right with you.”

“Sure.”

Flynn leaves the room. Yuri waits thirty seconds to make sure Flynn isn’t going to duck back in because he’s forgotten something, then drops his head into his hands with a loud groan.

“What the fuck?”

Of course Flynn works at his vet now. Of fucking course. He was just starting to feel like his life might be on the right track. It was time for something to go wrong. Repede noses against his hands until he drops them, then hauls himself into Yuri’s lap.

“You’re way too big to be doing this in this tiny ass chair,” Yuri says, doing absolutely nothing to get him down. Repede licks his cheek, narrowly missing the corner of his mouth. “Augh, gross, I know where you put that tongue.”

Despite his bitching, having a lap full of dog is making him feel a little better. Repede’s fur is silky under his hands, and every bony joint jamming into tender parts of his body is something to worry about that isn’t Flynn.

After a few minutes of cuddling, Raven sticks his head into the room. “Heeey, who do we have here?”

Repede’s ears flatten against his skull. Yuri rolls his eyes. “Hello to you too, old man.”

“The disrespect,” Raven sighs, slipping into the room and closing the door behind him. “So, our buddy Flynn didn’t find any issues, so it looks like we just gotta do the quick run-down and get your boy here his shots. You know the drill.”

“Yeah.”

Yuri manhandles Repede back onto the floor and nudges him towards Raven. He growls. Raven barks out a laugh.

“Come on, pupper. Don’t be like that.”

“I hope you know that a little part of my soul dies every time you say that word,” Yuri says. Raven smirks at him.

“That’s why I keep using it.”

“Screw you.”

“Who, me? When you’ve got my perfectly good vet tech to ogle?”

Motherfucker, he knows. “I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“Don’t be such a sourpuss,” Raven says. He strides over to Repede while Yuri holds his dog in place. “Alright, doggo, it’s only gonna take a minute.”

The second he gets his hands on Repede, Repede gives them a full speech on how much he hates it. Yuri tries to shush him with gentle murmurs and stroking along his back, but the growling and whimpering don’t stop as Raven pats him down.

“Poor boy,” Raven says. “If I hadn’t been seein’ him since he was a pup, I’d think he had some kinda vet trauma.”

“He does, he has to see you every time,” Yuri snaps. “That’s enough to traumatize anyone.”

“God, you’re grouchy today,” Raven says. He croons softly as he tries to pry Repede’s jaws open to look at his teeth. Repede makes angry muffled sounds. “I thought maybe seeing our favorite golden boy would soften you up, but it did the opposite, didn’t it?”

“Who told you, anyway?”

“What, about you and Flynn?” Raven snorts. He still can’t get Repede’s mouth open. At least there’s no warning nips happening. Yuri almost had to go out and get a muzzle for Repede, solely for the vet, after their last visit. He wouldn’t really bite Raven, not on purpose, but it’s enough to make everyone involved nervous. “I knew Niren, kid. He used to talk you two up all the time.”

Yuri shifts uncomfortably.

“Anyway, so does Flynn, for that matter. Can’t get him to shut up about you.”

“Yeah right,” Yuri says, under his breath.

“If you start calling me a liar I’m gonna get Judy and Estelle involved in this conversation,” Raven says. He gives up on Repede’s jaws. “And then you’ll have to talk about your feelings.”

“Just fucking try me,” Yuri says. “I’ll tell Judy to talk to you about Alcoholics Anonymous again.”

“I’m glad we can have these objective, professional conversations during your check-ups,” Raven says, wincing as he rises from his crouch. “Ugh, my knees. Hold on, I’m gonna see if Flynn can get this guy to open up for us.”

“Try not to collapse on your way there, old timer.”

“Respect your elders, you brat.” Raven goes to the door and sticks his head into the back again. “Scifo! I could use a hand over here. And bring the vaccinations for Repede Lowell on your way, please.”

“I’ve never heard you use the word please before in my life,” Yuri says. Raven partially closes the door and mouths _shut up_ at him. A moment later, he steps aside and lets Flynn into the room.

“I need your strong young hands,” Raven says. He plucks the vaccines from Flynn’s hands and jerks a thumb towards Repede. “Our friend here isn’t too fond of having his teeth checked.”

Repede whines and sticks his head between Yuri’s knees.

“Nobody’s doing anything to your mouth,” Yuri says, exasperatedly. He ruffles Repede’s ears. “You know nobody’s doing anything to your mouth. Just let them look and it’ll be over with.”

Repede whuffles sadly. Flynn comes over and crouches next to Yuri, scratching Repede’s back.

“Hi, buddy. You gonna let me see your handsome face?”

Repede lifts his head and rests it on Yuri’s thigh, giving Flynn a baleful look. Flynn reaches out to stroke his muzzle. Yuri tries very hard not to have a heart attack with Flynn’s hand so close to his groin.

“C’mon,” Flynn murmurs. “S’okay, bud. You’re okay. C’mere.”

Repede shoves his nose against Yuri’s abs, whimpering some more.

“No, you have to be a big boy,” Yuri says, pushing him back. Repede transfers the baleful look to him, then turns and tries to shove his nose into Flynn’s abs instead. Unfortunately for him, Flynn catches him by the face instead, holding him in place so Raven can come back across the room to join the party.

“Here we go,” Raven says. Flynn gently pries his mouth open. Repede—what the hell, Repede _lets him_. He growls again when Raven tries to reach for him, but only makes sad noises at Flynn. “Alright. It happens like this sometimes. I’m going to need you to expose his gums for me.”

“Okay, Dr. Oltorain.”

One side, then the other, then Raven waves a hand so Flynn releases Repede’s jaw. Repede immediately jerks away and hides against Yuri again.

“No problems lately, correct?” Raven asks Yuri. “No odd behavior, changes in eating habits?”

“Same as alw—“ Yuri pauses and actually thinks about it. “...The kids might have been sneaking him more people food.”

Flynn gives him a scandalized look. Raven just chuckles.

“Karol, huh?”

“Estelle keeps trying to buy his love,” Yuri says. To Flynn, defensively, he adds, “I’ve tried telling her not to.”

Flynn is busy mouthing _Estelle_ at him questioningly.

“Well, his weight is steady, so I wouldn’t worry about it excessively if you haven’t noticed any behavioral or digestive issues,” Raven says. He makes a few notes on his clipboard. “Try to limit it, of course, but no cause for alarm. Make sure the kids know which foods are toxic to dogs. Teeth looked good, so I don’t think it’s time to start planning dental cleaning yet. We’ll get him his shots and you’ll be all set. Sound good?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright,” Raven says, and hands a syringe to Flynn, taking a large step back. Flynn startles comically.

“Dr. Oltorain—?”

“He’s more comfortable with you—it’s safer for everyone involved. As I said earlier, it happens this way sometimes. I’ll be right here on standby, but I don’t think you need coaching.”

Flynn dutifully preps the shots the same way Yuri’s been watching Raven do it for the last three years. Yuri knows the drill, too, and carefully gets Repede into the most comfortable headlock he can. Repede, desperately convincing himself it’s a regular hug, wags his tail nervously. He yelps when Flynn lays a hand on his hindquarters and presses the needle against his flank. He devolves into fretful whimpers against Yuri’s chest.

“I know, I know,” Yuri mumbles. “Hey, shh. Come on, you’re fine. Shh. This is better than getting rabies, huh? Shh. I know. It’s okay.”

“Fortuitous timing to have found a vet tech he’ll put up with,” Raven says, handing Flynn the next vaccine. “Since we’ve got all his core boosters this time.”

Repede licks frantically at Yuri’s neck. Yuri presses his forehead to Repede’s apologetically, petting his shoulder blades.

“This is karma for eating Estelle’s shoes,” Yuri tells him. Maybe if he makes jokes he’ll stop feeling so guilty. He doesn’t want Repede to get sick, dammit. He _needs_ these shots. They’re _good_ for him.

“Ah, yes, the terrible punishment of not getting parvo,” Raven says, wryly. Flynn shakes his head as he readies the next vaccine, circling around to Repede’s other flank.

“If he’s being destructive, he might need an energy outlet. Try to get him more exercise.”

Yuri physically bites back the urge to tell Flynn not to tell him what to do. Who’s he to show up back in Yuri’s life out of the blue and tell him he doesn’t know how to take care of his own damn dog? Raven frowns.

“Let’s avoid the accusatory advice, Flynn.”

“Sorry,” Flynn mutters, ducking his head. Three down, one to go.

“And speaking of Repede’s exercise, I’ve added a vaccine for Lyme disease to his annual set.”

Make that two to go. Yuri grimaces, mentally adding another $15 to the bill. “Okay.”

“You hike a lot?” Flynn asks.

“When we’ve got the time,” Yuri says. It isn’t as often as he’d like. Mostly they have to stick to jogs and on-leash community parks. They can get away with frisbee on the lawn by Karol’s school if nobody has sports practice, and Karol has started throwing balls around for Repede with his lacrosse stick every once in a while. Maybe Yuri will start detouring to local parks on the way home from Karol’s games and Rita’s tournaments.

Flynn gives Repede the last shot and pulls back with a sympathetic pat. Repede crawls forward, forcing his way into Yuri’s lap and tipping them both over so Yuri lands painfully on his ass on the hard tile floor. Yuri scoffs at him, but lets him curl up on top of his thighs.

“German shepherd mix who thinks he’s a lapdog,” Raven says, watching them with an expression that Yuri is going to pretend isn’t fond, thank you very much. They’ve both got reputations to uphold. “You spoil that mongrel.”

“If you think this is bad, wait until Judy figures out how to fit him into a bag so she can take him on train trips,” Yuri says. Repede huffs pitifully, dropping his muzzle onto Yuri’s shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. Tell me all about it. You suffer so much. Really awful of us to make sure you don’t die of preventable diseases.”

“Take your overgrown puppy and go get some rest, Lowell,” Raven says. He collects the empty syringes from Flynn and carefully disposes of them in the sharps bin. “You look like you’re running on fumes.”

“I gotta settle the bill first,” Yuri grumbles. He pushes Repede out of his lap and heaves himself to his feet. Maybe they’ll be waiting until Friday for groceries after all. He might need to wait for his next paycheck after this. He tries to do the math in his head, bank account minus vet bill versus typical grocery restock.

“No, you don’t. Don’t even think about it.”

Yuri narrows his eyes. “What’s that, old man?”

“Yuri!” Flynn hisses. “You can’t talk to Dr. Oltor—“

“There’s no bill,” Raven says. He makes a _shoo_ motion with his hands. “Judy won’t let me tip her at the Myorzo anymore.”

“You tip her like 300 percent. It’s kind of creepy.”

“Well, she’s a good bartender. Anyway, I have to contribute to your rent somehow.”

“I don’t need your charity.”

“Yuri!”

“Kid,” Raven says, looking Yuri straight in the eyes. “You have five people and a dog in a two-room apartment, and you’re still bringing Repede to the vet. The least I can do is offer positive reinforcement. Besides, if I bill you for making sure one of Lambert’s pups doesn’t get rabies, Niren is going to—pardon my language, Flynn—he’ll fucking haunt me.”

“Dr. Oltorain!”

“I said pardon my language! Anyway, I don’t need those nightmares.” Raven waves a dismissive hand at Yuri again. Yuri grits his teeth. The old bastard really isn’t going to budge. “Get out of my clinic.”

“I’ll pay you back,” Yuri mutters, clipping Repede’s leash back on. “Once we stabilize.”

“Take your time,” Raven says, mildly. “Seriously, though, get out. I have other clients to deal with.”

He disappears through the back door. Yuri turns on his heel, not meeting Flynn’s eyes, and has a hand on the doorknob when the back door swings open again.

“And I better not hear from the receptionist that you tried to harass them into letting you pay!”

“For fuck’s sake—I wasn’t gonna! I won’t! Jesus Christ.”

The back door slams closed again. Flynn makes a breathy sound that might be laughter.

“I didn’t realize you and Dr. Oltorain were so... familiar.”

“He passes through the bars Judy and I work at a lot,” Yuri says, grudgingly. It’s not the whole story, but it’s what Flynn’s getting out of him. “And he’s been Repede’s vet since he was a puppy.”

“Judy’s your... girlfriend?”

“What? No. _No_.” Yuri drops his hand from the doorknob to run it through his hair, laughing a bit in disbelief. “Judy? No way. We’re roommates. Used to be coworkers.”

There’s a weird beat of silence. When he glances back, Flynn is chewing on his lip indecisively. “Can we... can I give you my new cell number? I’d like to catch up sometime. I missed you.”

Sounds fake, but okay. “Sure, I guess.”

“And I’d love to meet your roommates,” Flynn adds, terribly earnest.

“No, you wouldn’t,” Yuri says. He can already imagine Flynn and Rita’s tempers clashing. “But we can, I dunno, text or go out for drinks or something.”

“Coffee?” Flynn suggests. Yuri gives him a weird look. He hastily adds, “I just... don’t know if we should risk getting drunk together again quite yet.”

“Whatever,” Yuri says. If Flynn doesn’t even remember he’s an affectionate drunk, not an angry drunk, that’s... It hurts, a little. It hasn’t been _that_ long since they were joined at the hip. _Flynn_ is a little bit of an angry drunk, but as far as Yuri can remember, he’s never held up a temper too long when Yuri’s that friendly and relaxed. Yuri fishes his phone out of his pocket and tosses it to Flynn. “Put your number in, then.”

Flynn gives him a hopeful smile as he complies. When he hands Yuri’s phone back, he lingers with a feather-light touch to Yuri’s wrist. “I’ll talk to you soon, then?”

“Uh-huh.”

Yuri beats a hasty retreat to his car, where he immediately slumps into the driver’s seat to let out a loud, plaintive groan. Repede stretches forward from the back seat to lick at his shoulder reassuringly. Yuri gives himself another thirty seconds to wallow, immobile, in self-pity, before he snaps his seatbelt into place and turns the key in the ignition.

Life goes on, Flynn or no Flynn.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuri doesn’t forget to go grocery shopping mainly by dint of wanting private time to sulk before he goes home. Fucking Flynn and his handsome fucking face and perfect career track and judgmental attitude. By the time he gets back to the apartment and throws together dinner, he’s all but pushed Flynn from his mind in favor of what he needs to get done at the bar tonight and how many hours he’ll be able to sleep between closing there and opening the café in the morning. He banters half-heartedly with Judy as she unloads the dishes from the dishwasher, straight into the kids’ hands. They all slump around the coffee table to eat.

“How was Repede’s trip to the vet?” Estelle asks.

“He’s full of vaccines,” Yuri says, trying not to sound surly. He doesn’t really want to think about it. “No rabies, parvo, hepatitis or Lyme disease for him.”

“Good!” Karol says. He reaches under the table to pat Repede on the head. Repede sniffs his fingers hopefully for food. “Repede’s gotta be healthy, who else will keep Yuri in line?”

“Me,” Judy offers. Yuri socks her lightly in the shoulder. “Hey, don’t hit a lady.”

“You’re not a lady, you’re a menace to society.”

“Takes one to know one.”

“It really doesn’t,” Rita says.

“ _You_ sure wouldn’t know that firsthand,” Yuri says. “Anyway, Judy, you have to let Raven tip you again—the old man won’t let me pay vet bills anymore.”

“I do let him tip me,” Judy says. Yuri curses, loudly. “Why would I turn down that much money? ...He pulled one over on you again, didn’t he?”

“That son of a bitch,” Yuri says, stabbing his fork into his spaghetti with more force than necessary. Karol stares at him with wide eyes. Yuri sighs. He’s supposed to be watching his language. “Sorry, Karol.”

“You’re moody tonight,” Rita says. She steals one of Karol’s meatballs while he’s distracted. He hollers with outrage and tries to steal it back. They wave forks wildly in each other’s directions. Yuri makes the executive decision not to intervene unless someone gets hurt for real. “You wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?”

Yuri rolls his eyes at her and goes back to eating, ignoring her. The next time he looks up, there are four sets of expectant eyes on him.

“Seriously, guys?” He scowls at them. “...I ran into somebody I know this afternoon. I don’t want to—“

“It wasn’t Zagi, was it?” Karol asks, anxiously.

“What? No. I’d have all the blinds closed and the deadbolt drawn if it was Zagi.”

“We ought to just call the cops on him next time,” Rita says.

“Bold of you to suggest inviting the cops to an apartment inhabited by both Judy and myself,” Yuri says. “Considering we’re basically _be gay, do crimes_ incarnate.”

Estelle has been quiet, looking thoughtful, but now she suddenly brightens. “Oh! Yuri, did you see Flynn at the vet? He’s a vet tech now, isn’t he?”

Goddammit, how did she do that?

“Yeah,” Yuri says, sullenly.

“That’s wonderful!”

“Sure.”

“I’ve really been wanting to get you two back in touch,” Estelle says, beaming at him. Of course she has. Estelle’s an angel and Flynn’s probably never had a single damn reason to be cross with her. She doesn’t get it. “I mean, I didn’t because I don’t know whether I should tell him where I am now, since he knows Dr. Dinoia... And I didn’t know how to explain how I know you without mentioning that I’m here....”

“Who’s this Flynn you two keep bringing up, anyway?” Rita demands.

“Hold on, I think I have a picture of him somewhere,” Estelle says. She scrolls through her phone for a moment, then holds it out for Rita to see.

“ _That_ guy?” Rita scrunches her nose up. Karol insistently motions for Estelle to show him, too. Judy peers over his shoulder. “Yuri’s friend? I wouldn’t have made that connection.”

“You’ve met Flynn?” Yuri looks at her askance, morbidly curious. “How’d that go?”

“He tried to boss me around as part of some stupid outreach project with our class and the local university,” Rita says. Sounds like Flynn, alright. “So I was like, ‘I know more than you,’ and after a bit he told me to keep up the good work and left me alone.”

“He didn’t even chew you out?”

“Nope,” Rita says, around a mouthful of spaghetti.

Estelle lowers her fork with a frown. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard Flynn chew someone out, either...”

“Great,” Yuri mutters, digging back into his food. So it’s just a him thing, then. Cool. Fine. Another fuck-up extraordinaire Yuri Lowell privilege. He loves having those.

“I thought you’d be happier,” Estelle says, still frowning. “Aren’t you excited?”

“Thrilled.”

“You two missed each other so much!”

“Heart-rendingly.”

Rita kicks him under the table. “Don’t pick on Estelle.”

“I’m not picking on her,” Yuri says. His jaw aches from gritting his teeth so much today. “I don’t want to talk about Flynn right now. Karol, how was practice?”

The kids all exchange _looks_. Still, Karol is always eager to talk about lacrosse, and within seconds the tense silence gives way to his enthusiastic, interminable chatter. Thank God. Yuri gets some peace of mind for exactly as long as it takes to finish dinner and take Repede on a lap around the block. He studiously does not check his phone and does not think about what, if anything, he would say to start a conversation with Flynn. It works great right up until he and Judy are loaded into the car so he can drop her off at her bartending job on the way to his own.

“So,” she says, drawing the word out. “Flynn, huh.”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” Yuri says, keeping his eyes focused on the road.

“It’s been an awfully long time to still be mad,” Judy says.

“Shut up, you don’t even know him,” Yuri snaps, then stops, taking a deep breath. “...Sorry.”

She shrugs, unfazed. “I knew it was a sore spot when I brought it up.”

They’re both quiet for a minute. Slowly, feeling out the words as they come to him, Yuri says, “I don’t have any reason to think things would be any different now than they were the last time I saw him.”

“Hmm.”

“He’s further along with his life plan, and I’ve added, like, three new obstacles to whatever the fuck mine is anymore, along with not going anywhere with it in the first place.”

“It would be awfully harsh of him to judge you for that,” Judy says. “Considering most of the obstacles in your life come from an inability to ignore people in need.”

Yuri laughs, bitterly. “Flynn’s pretty good at harsh judgement if you catch him in the right mood. Or the wrong one, I guess.”

She reaches over and gently pats his leg. “Maybe he’s changed. What did he say to you at the vet?”

“He told me I never change, scolded me for picking up freeloaders and for being rude to the old man, suggested Repede destroyed Estelle’s shoes because I don’t exercise him enough...”

“And?” Judy prompts, when Yuri makes the fatal mistake of hesitating.

“...And said he missed me and wanted to catch up over coffee sometime.”

Judy’s silence speaks volumes.

“All of the first things I said still happened,” Yuri says.

“And you can talk to him about them,” she says. “But Estelle was right, you know. I can tell you missed him, too. Everybody who hears you talk about him can tell.”

Yuri grips the steering wheel harder. “Just because we missed each other doesn’t mean everything will magically work out.”

“No, but it might mean it’s worth the effort of trying.”

“This is why I didn’t want to talk about this.”

“Why, because you know I have a point and you can’t argue with it?”

“Judy.” They pull into the parking lot of her bar. For once in their shared career history, they’re early. Of all the nights, it had to be this one. Judy takes off her seatbelt and rests her fingers against the handle of the door.

“Let me make you a deal. Mm... more of a bet, perhaps.”

“...I’ll hear you out, at least.”

“You have to talk to Flynn about your relationship and shop for a new apartment...” she raises her free hand to forestall his protests. “And I have to talk to Rita about my anti-military robotics raids and figure out how to rescue Ba’ul.”

“What’s the bet?”

“If I accomplish my goals before you accomplish yours...” Judy drums her fingers against the handle. “We’ll sit down as a family and have a discussion about your little crush.”

Yuri feels the color drain out of his face. “That’s not—I don’t have a crush.”

“Hmm. Your pining, then?”

“I’m not pining either!”

“You’re right, that conversation wouldn’t go anywhere,” Judy says. “It would just devolve into you and Rita calling each other gay. We can talk about the self-esteem issues sabotaging your relationships instead.”

“Get out of my fucking car.”

He reaches across her to yank open the passenger-side door. She catches his hand. “But if _you_ accomplish your goals before I accomplish mine... Should I pick your prize, or do you have something in mind?”

Yuri stares at her, eyes narrowed. Judy smiles back, sweet as honey and sharp as a razor.

“...If I win, you have to get therapy for your daddy issues.”

Her face falls into a scowl, but she extends her hand to him. “Fine. Do you accept the bet, then?”

Yuri shakes on it. “Hope you like shopping for therapists.”

“Oh, baby. You just keep telling yourself that.”

She lets herself out of the car and blows him a kiss as she disappears into the employee entrance of the bar. Yuri, for the second time that day, gives himself thirty seconds to freak out behind the steering wheel. Then he takes a deep, fortifying breath and puts the stick shift into reverse.

Life goes on, apparently with Flynn in it whether Yuri likes it or not.


End file.
